Anesthetic screen



Nov. 21, 1939.

M. 5v RICHARDSON ANESTHETIC SCREEN Filed Oct. 51, 1938 MAP) 6. RICHARDSON ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE Application October 31, 1938, Serial N0.237,921 6 Claims. (01. 3557.1)

-This invention relates to hospital and sick room appliances where surgical operations are performed and anesthetics are applied to the patient and it has particular reference to an appliance commonly known in the medical profession as an anesthetic screen adapted to use by an anesthetist in the application of anesthetics to a patient about to undergo a surgical operation and its'principal object resides in the provision of apparatus capable of easy and convenient adaptation to any of the conventional types of operating tables affording a compact and readily adjustable appliance for supporting an anesthetic screen which, by reason of its compact structure, will not interfere with the movements of the surgeon and will afford greater accessibility to the various parts of the body necessary to be operated upon.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a portable apparatus which may be entirely removed from the operating table by the anesthetist, or person administering anesthetics,

when such anesthetics are unnecessary or while to the head such as operations upon the head,

the neck, shoulders or breast of the patient, thus tending to greatly minimize any interference with the usual activities of the surgeon in performing such operations.

Broadly, the invention seeks to comprehend the provision of a simple yet novel assembly of parts capable of adjustment and application in a man ner most suitable for the administration of anesthetics in the most approved and efiicient man.- ner enabling both the surgeon and the anesthetist to practice their art with greater skill and expedience.

While the foregoing objects are paramount, other and lesser objects will become manifest as the description proceeds taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein;

Figure 1 is a perspective illustration of the invention showing the base and adjustable frame supported above the said base.

Figure 2 is is a vertical cross sectional illustration of the device, taken on lines2--2 of Fig-- ure 1, illustrating the base, the upright hollow posts or supports and set screws, as well as the adjustment of the upper frame portion shown in v one position in dotted lines. 1

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of the frame illustrating one form of casting in which a set screw is mounted 'adjustably supporting the upper frame, and Figure 4 is a modified form of the base member and hollow upright supports constructed in one piece.

A conventional anesthetic screen is comprised usually of an inverted U-shaped member which is attached near the head of an operating table and swings over the end of the said table, when not in use, and is suspended thereunder. When the patientis positioned upon' the table and made ready for an operation the U-shaped member is drawn to an uprightposition-and locked so that the same extends across the patients head or upper body'whereupon t hehood or anesthetic screen is draped thereover to isolat'eor restrict the anesthetics to the patients "respiratory zone.

Accordingly, therefore, the invention comprises a basemember l which is preferably of a fiat sheet or plate of some flexible non-conductive material having sufiicient tensility and rigidity to adequately support a pair of upright posts 2 fixedly attached to'one end of the saidbase, as shown in Figure 1. The upright posts 2 are preferably tubular and hollow and adapted to receive the downwardly extendingends. 3 of an inverted U-shaped member {which is preferably.

round H r Figure 4 illustrates a modified form of the base I and upright members 2. and which maybe formed by one length of tubing bent substantially 'U-shaped, as illustrated, and having-the ends thereof turned upwardly in the same manner as the supports 2 illustrated in Figures 1' and 2. The base portion of the form illustrated in Figure 4 may be flattened to avoid presenting a bulk beneath the patients pillow which may sire.

inserting and withdrawing the assembly from beneath the patients pillow.

Obviously, a base I, of the type illustrated in Figure 1, of a relatively thin plate may be readily inserted beneath the pillow of the patient on the operating table and moved to various angles with respect to the patients head without discomfort. Likewise, the device may be withdrawn completely from beneath the patients pillow and removed from the table.

The screen is supported over the device by an adjustable frame 5 which is also substantially U-shaped and whose ends are provided with bearings 6 journalled upon the horizontalcross member a of the supporting frame 4 so that the frame 5 can pivot thereon yet be fixed at any angle with respect to the base through the medium of set screws I threaded through the bearings 6, as illustrated in Figure l. The frame 5, shown in Figure 1, is bent, however, at b to provide stops which engage the vertical members 3 of the supporting frame 4 retaining the frame 5 in a horizontal position. A modified form of the bearings 6 and set screws 1 is shown in Figure 3, by the use of which the frame 5 may. be rotated around the cross member a of the frame 4 so that it may be raised or lowered with respect to the base I, in the manner shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, or. rotated backwardly of the assembly and extending oppositely from the base I.

The upper frame structure of the invention may be adjusted vertically and fixed at any desired plane through the medium of set screws 8 threaded into the upright members 2. It is obvious, however, that any type of securing means may be employed for such adjustment other than the set screws 8 as shown.

. In common practice the anesthetist usually assumes a position at the patients head at the end of the operating table where the conventional equipment for such procedure is arranged. The apparatus herein described is placed in position by inserting the base I beneath the patients pillow and adjusting the frame assembly 4 and 5 in the manner just described best suiting the particular requirements of the case. The screen,

usually comprising a quantity of fabric of the approved type, is adjusted over the frame assembly by the anesthetist who may gain access to the patients respiratory zone between the posts 2 or from either side of the device depending upon the nature of the operation involved manipulating the assembly pivotally from one side to the other to the required position in which best results can be attained permitting the surgeon the proper access to the patient yet insuring skillful and eflicient administration of the anesthetics.

The collapsibility and compact form of the invention will enable the anesthetist to easily transport the assembly from one place to another in the performance of his duties should he so de- While it is contemplated that suitably equipped hospitals and operating rooms will be supplied with such apparatus, it is pointed out that the anesthetist may provide the appliance when called upon to administer anesthetics. The art and science of anesthetics has, during the past few years, become highly specialized and persons skilled in such science may desire to be independently equipped for such administrations.

The base I may be reinforced, if desirable, by

prove both uncomfortable and an annoyance in ribs or strips 9 secured along the under side thereof, as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Manifestly, the structure shown and described is capable of considerable changes and modifications by those skilled in the art and such changes and modifications which may be resorted to from time to time which may be considered as falling within the spirit and intent of the invention may also be considered as coming within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In apparatus providing a screen for the administration of anesthetics comprising a base plate having a pair of tubular uprights, an inverted U'-shaped frame member slidably received by the said uprights and including a horizontal portion, a fixedly adjustable screen supporting frame hingedly supported by the horizontal portion of the said U-shaped member permitting adjustability of the said screen supporting frame in variable planes with respect to said base plate.

2. Apparatus providing a screen for the administration of anesthetics having a base,- a pair of vertically arranged tubular posts fixed in the said base, a substantially U-shaped member including a horizontal cross-member vertically adjustable and slidably supported by the said posts and a screen supporting frame pivotally and adjustably arranged on the said horizontal crossmember.

3. A new article of manufacture, a support for an anesthetic screen comprising a base member adapted to extend beneath a pillow, rigid vertical hollow posts in the said base, a vertically adjustable frame including a horizontal member supported in the said posts, a substantially horizontal frame member supported by the said horizontal member and means providing variable plane adjustments of the said horizontal frame member with respect to the said base.

4.'In apparatus providing a screen for the administration of anesthetics, a base member adapted to be adjusted beneath a pillow on an operating table, vertical tubular uprights in the said base member, a frame adjustably supported in the said uprights including downwardly extending legs receivable by the said uprights and a cross-bar, a screen support pivotally attached to the said cross-bar and means providing adjustability of the said frame in variable planes with respect to the said base member.

5. In an anesthetic screen, a base member, rigid tubular supports in the said base member, a vertically adjustable supporting frame including a horizontal portion slidably received by the said supports, a substantially horizontal frame member pivotally attached to the horizontal portion of the said supporting frame and means providing adjustment of the said horizontal frame on variable planes with respect to the said base. 

